United States
General Information The United States of America (USA), commonly referred to as the United States (U.S.), America '''and sometimes '''the States,''' '''is a republic of 50 states and 1 federal district, commonly considered one of the first democratic nations in modern history. The country was originally thirteen British colonies extending from Maine to Georgia. The colonists made that settled the land generally left their homes due to religious, political or ethnic persecution, giving the colonies a far larger amount of diversification than most European nations at the time. After the French and Indian War and slowly increasing anti-Imperial rule sentiment in the colonies, the British attempted to leverage extra taxes from the colonies to help pay off debt accrued during the war. This would be seen as the final straw for most anti-Imperial Americans, and would set forth a series of events eventually culminating in April 19, 1775 with The American Revolution, with the country declaring independence from the United Kingdom on July 4th, 1776. The war lasted several years, but thanks to the distance from the British mainland, new warfare tactics and large amounts of help from multiple countries such as France and Spain, the United States was able to emerge victorious on September 3, 1783. The United States as is commonly known today would not exist until June 21, 1788, after the United States Constitution was drafted to help organize the disparate states. Before this, the nation had been organized under what was known as the Articles of Confederation, which were generally considered failures due to their inability to organized the states in any meaningful way. During the presidency of Thomas Jefferson, the policy of armed neutrality towards all nations not in North America was implemented and would last for a century until the first World War, with the United States generally staying out of European affairs until that point. The United States then began expand its settlements westward, leading to the concept of Manifest Destiny; the concept that all of North America rightfully to the United States . Eventually, after the United States bought France's American territory with the Louisiana purchase of April 30, 1803 was completed, the United States gained all remaining French territory in North America (not Including France's Caribbean territories). Later, conflict over the border between the US and Mexico in Texas led to the Mexican-American War of 1846 – 1848 which concluded with the United States annexing all territory North of the Rio Grande excluding the land involved in the Gadsen Purchase. Later, the American Civil War would consume the nation from April 12, 1861 to April 9, 1865 after long tensions between the northern, Republican states and their rivals in the Democratic south over such issues as states rights, economic freedoms and primarily, slavery. The southern states seceded into the Confederate States of America and fired the first shots of the war at the Battle of Fort Sumter. After several years of war, the South failed to enlist the European aid it desperately needed and was eventually defeated by the North, and with the surrender of Confederate General Robert E. Lee at Appomattox Courthouse, the war was officially concluded and the United States reunited. During the course of the war, the United States had banned the divisive practice of slavery and further pushed authority away from individual states and towards the federal government, which would set the tone for the next 150 years of American government policy. In the direct aftermath of the war, the United States embarked into the era of Reconstruction, hoping to resolve long standing issues between the north and south and to help integrate former slaves who were facing widespread institutional racism in much of the country. Although the attempts were initially successful, Reconstruction would fail after the assassination of Republican President Abraham Lincoln gave the democratic south back much of its political power, with the southern states attempting to undo most of Lincoln's policies. With the country reunited once more, the United States would eventually began looking outwards, hoping to expel European influence from the western hemisphere and expand its sphere of influence. Policies such as the Monroe Doctrine would firmly establish the United States as a great power with its own sphere of influence, which it considered to be the entirety of the Americas. The Spanish-American War of 1898 would lead to the final expulsion of major European strongholds in the Americas, with the United States freeing the majority of Spanish nations in the Americas such as Cuba, and in the spirit of European imperialism, took the Spanish colonies of the Phillippines, Panama and Puerto Rico. The war finally eroded Spain's standing in the world as a major power, and although the United States generally continued policy of neutrality of foreign conflicts, would have the United States come out as a major military power, even in comparison to its European counterparts. Further US expansion could be seen in the construction of the Panama Canal, greatly increased trade between Europe, America and Asia and further established the United States as an industrial power. Further expansion would occur in Asia, where the United States would be the first nation to open trade with Japan with the Perry Expedition, and would aid European powers fighting the Chinese in the Boxer Rebellions. Although US was not directly involved for the majority of World War 1, US arms and supplies to the Allied powers during the war were extremely important to the Allied war effort. Due to extensive German convoy attacks across the Atlantic Ocean with the policy of Unrestricted submarine warfare and extensive diplomatic blunders such as the release of the Zimmerman Telegram led to the United States joining the war in the summer of 1918. Germany, which had begun to face military defeats in Western Europe and was facing large scale internal instability thanks to the prolonged war, finally lost any chance of a favorable peace and the war would be ended by November 11, 1918. In the aftermath of the war, the United States entered a period of widespread economic and industrial growth known as the Roaring Twenties, spurred on largely by widespread patriotism and economic development in the aftermath of the war, along with the United States's laissez-faire. The growth was unsustainable however, and economic development would be halted in the Wall Street Crash of 1929 leading to the 10 year period of widespread poverty known as the Great Depression. Attempts to revitalize the economy and American industry would eventually help set the stage for massive development in the 40's. After the outbreak of World War 2, the United States would give massive support to the allied nations throughout the war, much as it had previously. Although it would once again remain largely neutral for much of the war, American munitions would largely fuel the allied war effort, such as building the Soviet Union's train system and supplying many of their vehicles of helping feed the British isles during the German blockade. The United States also attempted to temper Japanese aggression in Asia, opening oil embargoes against the Japanese in the hope to force the Japanese to negotiate with the United States over an end to Japanese expansion. The Japanese would instead attack the American port of Pearl Harbor, leading to US entry in the war on December 7th, 1941. In response, the American economy received a massive jump start as US industry focused nearly entirely on the war. Most occupations in the country were in some way turned towards assisting in the war effort, and the American industry was revived and brought further than it ever had before nearly over night. American soldiers would largely drive the Allies forward to retaking France from the German military, as well as Italy, Austria and several other western nations. The war in Europe would end with the Soviet Union and Poland taking the German capital of Berlin on May 2nd, 1945, and the US would attempt to establish democratic western nations in direct opposition to the Communist totalitarian states the Soviet Union established in its own zone of occupation, ultimately leading to the Cold War. The US would also prove crucial in defeating Japan in the Asian theater of the war, being the main force fighting the Japanese in an island hopping campaign to the Japanese mainland. During the battles in Asia, the United States would introduce the concepts of carrier warfare, helping usher the death of the battleship, and would come out as the world's dominant naval power. Japan was eventually beaten back to its mainland, and although an invasion was considered, named Operation Downfall, it was eventually decided that it would cause far too many losses on both sides and an alternative was still found with the experimental atomic bomb. After Japan failed to reply to demands for immediate, unconditional surrender, a single atomic bomb was dropped in the Japanese city of Hiroshima, destroying it. Further failure to surrender led to a second bombing in the city of Nagasaki, after which, the Japanese capitulated to the United States. With the war ended, the United States would introduce the Marshall Plan to its European allies, massively aiding in the reconstruction of the land in further opposition to the Soviet Union and the Molotov Plan. The North Atlantic Treaty Organization would be founded soon after on April 4th, 1949. The organization would become directly opposed to the Soviet led Eastern Bloc, and would consolidate the Western European - American alliance that had been forming for over 40 years. The United States would also join the United Kingdom, France, the USSR, and China in creating the United Nations, hoping to create an international forum to prevent yet another world war. With the Great Depression largely passed, massive waves of patriotism across the United States, the largest surface navy and one of the largest militaries, along with the world's strongest economy, the United States would become one of two super powers, the first of their kind, in the post World War 2 world, alongside the Soviet Union. Beginning on the 25th of June, 1950, the Soviet backed Communist North Korea invaded its southern counterpart, launching widespread condemnation from the UN and NATO. Due to several diplomatic blunders, a largely US backed legislation would end with the United Nations entering the war on the side of South Korea. The largely US backed effort would lead to the North Korea being fought back to its land border with China, which would spark tensions with China, leading to Chinese intervention on October 25th, 1950. The Chinese would manage to push the UN forces to the 38th parallel, where the situation quickly deteriorated into a stalemate, leading to a ceasefire between the two sides. In the 60's, largely in response to the Civil Rights act, the American south would turn Republican, the north having been flipped to Democrat several decades prior. In an ironic switch from a hundred years prior, the south would largely become an anti-Civil Rights Republican area and the north a pro-Civil Rights Democrat area. Although the Civil Rights protest have largely left the American psyche, the division has remained to the present day. The Cold War would begin ending on March 11, 1985 and was fully finished by December 25th, 1991 with the dissolution of the USSR. Western media and goods soon flooded the Russian and Eastern European markets, and the United States would emerge into the 21st century as the world's only superpower, a title it has yet to lose. On September 11th, 2001, a terrorist attack perpetrated by the Islamic militant group Al-Qaeda would lead to the death of nearly 3,000 Americans. Following widespread support from most of the world, a NATO led force would invade Afghanistan in an attempt to corrode Al-Qaeda influence, and a similar invasion would begin in Iraq due to a fear of weapons of mass destruction. The wars both became known as the part of the War on Terror, a massive multinational attempt to fight fringe terrorist groups across the world. Both wars would end with the toppling of the regime's of Sadam Hussein in Iraq and the Taliban dictatorship's in Afghanistan, both being replaced by US friendly governments. Further American attempts to stabilize the situations in both countries would slowly erode the widespread support garnered post-9/11 and the US would leave Iraq on December 18th, 2011. Although the western government has survived, it has faced widespread insurrection, and has generally failed to keep the region stabilized as the United States has hoped. A similar government put in place in Afghanistan has also failed to remain stable in the face of widespread insurrection, but has as of yet not faced widespread rebellion such as that seen in Iraq. Although NATO still operates in Afghanistan, the war has begun a period of winding down, and is currently in its final stages. The United States would elect its first African American president, Barack Obama, on January 20th, 2009. China has emerged as a strong military and commercial power in the 21st century, and although the US and China are strong trading partners and conflict is unlikely, it is predicted that China may compete with America as a second super power, the first time any country has done so since the fall of the Soviet Union. ''see also: ''CSA, Texas, Hawaii, Canada, Mexico, Great Britain American Starting Dates and Strategies The USA is considered and interesting choice during these time periods American War for Independence: Spend all your money on army recruitment and reinforcement. Make sure to hire mercenaries to siege to conserve manpower. The war is usually pretty easy to win if you keep your troops close together and swat the British armies away before they unite. The Victorian Era American Civil War WWII Cold War Present Day: Starting Out: The USA in the modern day is in one of the easiest countries to achieve world domination with. The oceans create a serious barrier for any major power in the "old world", as the AI does not handle amphibious invasions well. Also aggressive expansion does not transfer overseas very well. During the modern day the imperialism is the best casus belli possible and should be used in every invasion, unless you will have difficulty taking their capital. One of the first things that should be done is removing your religious ideas group. These ideas are irreverent during this time period with secularism and imperialism. This gives you some extra Admin points and frees up an additional idea group. Recruit all level three advisors since your economy can easily support it. Put your point focus on Admin, you will be leaving it there for the rest of the game. Set your rivals, Canada, Russia, and Mexico are good ones. Raise an army for an invasion of Canada, artillery is very powerful in this time period and should make up almost have of your armies. Use your spare money to start raising a fleet. Start saving your Admin point, you'll be coring most of Canada very soon. The Great Invasion of Canada: A good starting strategy for the US is to immediately invade Canada. You can easily fight the much weaker Canadian military. Canada is too much of a threat to the USA with it's very large national boarder. It would be a pain to have to fight a war on two fronts if Canada is one of those two fronts. Your goal is to "full annex" Canada. This is possible in one war. You will have to endure a long peace to core the large amount of land that you have taken. After annexing Canada the US is nearly invincible. Also any South American coalition would not be able to seriously harm the USA with D.C. as their wargoal. Moving South: Make sure you invade Mexico before any South American countries. If you have five cores in a colonial region without a direct path to D.C. a colonial region will form and cost you land. Mexico has an idea that increases coring costs, it's up to you whether or not to forcefully vassalize them or not to avoid the increased cost, but they are too big for this to be done in one war. The caribbean nations are free game. They have high base tax and some may be peacefully vassalized if you attack their rivals. The Panama Canal?: Constructing the Canal makes waging war and moving troops around central america invaluable, but the construction is long and arduous. The gold cost to start is gigantic and many events pop up costing you 100 monarch points during the construction. Constructing the canal is very much six in one basket half a dozen in the other. It is ultimately up to the player whether or not to construct it, by this time you should have a high enough naval limit to have each of you fleets bigger than the any other nation. Spreading Democracy: A great way to spend manpower while you are waiting for more admin power, or cores to finish, is to fight proxy wars in Africa and the pacific to expand your colonies' territory. Remember colonies will be formed when you get five cores in a colonial region. The Middle East: The easiest way into Europe is to use your colonies in Africa as a staging ground for an invasion of Egypt and the middle east. Once the land is taken you can build the Suez Canal so you can easily transport troops and navies between Europe and Asia. Veni Vidi Vici: By this point you should have all of the Americas under your control along with colonies in the Pacific, Australia, and Africa. You should have the Suez built ad easy access into Europe. Your fleet should be larger than the entire world combined and it should stay that way, as long as you keep it close by each other and have an admiral. Your armies should be flowing from your country and the only thing standing in your way now is moving troops to the many battle fields across the world and lack of admin points to core new territory. Your victory is unstoppable and your shale bring peace and utopia to the world, with the small price of millions dead. American Ideas and Traditions Traditions: # +1 Merchants # +20.0% Religious Unity Ideas: #Freedom of Religion: Negative religious tolerance no longer gives any penalties #Bill of Rights: -2 National revolt risk #Empire of Liberty: +1 Colonists #Lessons of Valley Forge: +10.0% Morale of armies #Workshop of the World: 15.0% Goods produced nationally #Shining City on a Hill: +1 Yearly Prestige #Indian Removal: Permanent Casus Belli against pagans. Bonus: # +0.5 Yearly republican tradition Category:Former colonial nations